Sink the Bismarck
Analysis by Peter Curlis
The song Sink the Bismarck by Johnny Horton is a classic song about a certain part of the Atlantic Campaign during WWII. As the name hints, the song is about the sinking of the German Battleship Bismarck, the largest battleship ever built by Germany, and one of the largest built in the world. The Bismarck was 823’ feet long overall, and was initially deployed to destroy transport ships coming from and going to Great Britain. In the Bismarck’s only successful battle, it sunk the HMS Hood, the pride of the queen’s navy, and forced the HMS Prince of Whales to retreat. Shortly after the sinking of the Hood, the Bismarck was hit by torpedo bombers, and crippled to the point that making it home would be impossible. The Bismarck was soon sunk by the British Navy, and only a small portion of the crew survived. The song addresses the driving question, “What impact does war have on society?” by showing us how all of Britains Navy cooperated and collaborated to destroy this one battleship that had destroyed their highly valued HMS Hood.
Lyrics
In May of 1941 the war had just begun
The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns The Bismark was the fastest ship that ever sailed the seas On her deck were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood And every British seaman, he knew and understood They had to sink the Bismark, the terror of the sea Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees We'll find that German battleship that's makin' such a fuss We gotta sink the Bismark 'cause the world depends on us Hit the decks a-runnin' boys and spin those guns around When we find the Bismark we gotta cut her down The Hood found the Bismark and on that fatal day The Bismark started firin' fifteen miles away We gotta sink the Bismark was the battle sound But when the smoke had cleared away, the mighty Hood went down For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail Churchill told the people, "Put ev'ry ship a-sail" 'Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she's gotta be We gotta sink the Bismark to the bottom of the sea |
We'll find that German battleship that's makin' such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismark 'cause the world depends on us Hit the decks a-runnin' boys and spin those guns around When we find the Bismark we gotta cut her down The fog was gone on the seventh day and they saw the mornin' sun Ten hours away from homeland the Bismark made its run The admiral of the British fleet said, "Turn those bows around" We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut her down The British guns were aimed and the shells were comin' fast The first shell hit the Bismark, they knew she couldn't last That mighty German battleship is just a memory "Sink the Bismark", was the battle cry that shook the seven seas We found that German battleship was makin' such a fuss We had to sink the Bismark 'cause the world depends on us We hit the decks a-runnin' and we spun those guns around Yeah, we found the mighty Bismark and then we cut her down We found that German battleship was makin' such a fuss We had to sink the Bismark 'cause the world depends on us We hit the decks a-runnin' and we spun those guns around We found the mighty Bismark and then we cut her down |